WHAT WENT WRONG

WHAT WENT WRONG ?

           BY AGADA IKECHUKWU

If there is any subject matter in the Nigerian context that has the trappings of a leading topical discourse at the moment, it is the one that has to do with the “Restructuring which emerged as the consensus to douse tension and pacify frayed nerves precipitating ethnic agitations”.

It was the glaring tribalism, clannish double standing, lopsided , biased and religious affinity based appointments of the Buhari-led administration that birthed the renewed bitter agitation for secession that have engulfed the polity. The first filial generation agitations Mid Wifed by the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was no different.

Visiting with hatred agents agitating against perceived marginalization , injustice , inequity in a project they are jointly heirs to , is akin to reacting petrol and fire in a newly built mansion to generate some interesting products. Negotiation in a round table is the most profitable magic wand that can assuage the feelings of such dissenting voices.

It is satanically hypocritical and mischievous to kill the zeal for the clamour for Restructuring and devolution of power to states which seems to be the will of the masses. It is only a tyrannical and dictatorial government that will play the bat and sit on the fence in dealing with such issues.

The deep seated hatred of the Hausa-Fulani against the Igbos which dated back during the civil war still echoes in the character and attitude of the present administration. The ethnic disenfranchisement as manifested in the narrow appointments , Arewa Youths elitical sponsored quit notice , the well orchestrated highly thought through political hate induced lyrical lines of song that went viral against the Igbos etc , are testimonies that the Igbos are hibernating , wining and dining on the same table with the devil , and they require a very long spoon.

It is only a cerebral , history and posterity conscious government leader that will maintain seemingly or ostensible neutrality in handling the situation the country is enmeshed in. The untouchable , superiority complex , sacred cow ideology of the Hausa- Fulani supremacists as exemplified in the posturing of the hate induced group called “Arewa Youths” closes the canister. While one group (Arewa Youths) were treated like the biological children by granting presidential audience to them , the other group (IPOB) were threatened with fire and brimstone and possible incarceration.

You cannot claim to be the father of all when you are nursing an age long grudges for a people and manifesting it against them. What is good for the goose , is good for the gander. It is a demonstration of hatred and bias as a shepherd to cook for an elephant with a pot and use cup for lion. Such situation makes Nigeria an animal farm where some animals are more equal than others.

“Out of the abundance of the heart , the mouth speaks”-the bible says. This ironically means that hate speech is a product of an innate hatred. The whistle blowing against criminalizing “hate speech” as an act of terrorism remains a figment of the imagination of the government if religion and ethnicity are not dispensed with.

The Arewa quit notice was the greatest hate speech ever made by a group of people in the history of Nigeria and today , they walk the streets as heroes granting television interviews boasting that they have never been invited by any security agency. To make matters worse , the federal government gave them audience by inviting them for dialogue to what could be termed “Presidential and institutionalized” endorsement of the group as a political willing tool for devilish purposes.

One cannot sensationally divorce the hate song against the Igbos as one of the series of unfolding activities of the presidency endorsed Arewa groups.

The under performance of this administration is not unconnected with some ethnic and religious centrifugal and centripetal interests raping it dry . The government should not use insecticide for some people and deodorant for others. Government cannot be sincere with their change mantra if they dissipate energy monitoring and clamping down on innocent social media users voicing their opinion on the poor ways of managing their nation.

Nigerians are wiser come 2019 general elections because once bitten , twice shy. We should allow ethnic and religious scales to fall off our eyes then lend our voices to the negotiation for the advancement of the Nigerian project. Those at the forefront of the fight for Restructuring of Nigeria should construct workable proposals and legendary blueprints on how to make things better.

We need to join forces in order to make Nigeria great again. It is time to put the Nigerian map in the world reckoning and make it haven of sorts for investors and their investments. Then , the bold question “ WHAT WENT WRONG ?
can easily be answered.

GOD BLESS YOU